Hancock Makes Repeat on Forbes’ ‘Most Trustworthy’ Companies List

By Ted Carter
Coming off a third quarter that saw triple-digit income growth over the previous quarter, Gulfport-based Hancock Bank has a new reason to cheer: a listing on Audit Integrity’s “Most Trustworthy Companies” published this week in Forbes Magazine.
The $8.2 billion regional bank, which reported third-quarter income of $14.9 million and earnings per share of 40-cents, landed on the list of most trusted publicly held companies for the second consecutive year.
This year Hancock was one of 66 banks nationwide to get a roster spot.
Hancock scored 99 on the 100-point Accounting and Governance Risk (AGR) scale used to assess the true quality of corporate accounting and management practices of companies considered for the list.
“We consider this accolade a testament to the continued confidence of our shareholders, customers, and communities and remain very grateful for the ongoing opportunity to earn their enduring trust,” said Hancock Bank President & CEO Carl Chaney.
Forbes said it hired Audit Integrity, an independent financial analytics company in Los Angeles, to look beyond the raw data reported in companies’ income statements and balance sheets to more than 100 factors that help it assesses the true quality of corporate accounting and management practices. Its aim is to identify the measures most highly associated with fraud and to quantify the risks that companies’ stock prices will tank, that their managers will be forced to restate their financials and that outsiders will hit them with securities lawsuits, Forbes said.
Joining Hancock on the list are two discount retailers highly visible in Mississippi: Fred’s and Family Dollar, both on for the second year. Urban clothier CitiTrends, which has stores in Jackson, made the list as well.
Also making the list, and perhaps adding fuel to whether pro wrestling is truthfully real, was World Wrestling Entertainment.